Institutionalizing Shock-Responsive Social Protection in Kosovo

Following the success of providing temporary support during COVID-19, Kosovo, like many places around the world, is exploring how to reform its social protection system to not only reduce poverty but also build resilience and quickly adapt its support in response to future shocks. 

However, when starting this process practitioners faced a simple question: how to institutionalise shock-responsiveness, and what reforms are needed? In 2025, a bold step was taken to answer this question and build a more resilient social protection system with the launch of the Kosovo Shock-Responsive Social Protection (SRSP) Guideline (link here). 

The need for a guideline

In 2024, the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers (MFLT), supported by UNICEF Kosovo worked with experts to conduct a Readiness Assessment (link here) looking back at the COVID-19 experience, and looking forward to whether Kosovo’s social protection programs could adapt in the face of future shocks. The assessment asked a simple but powerful question: If a major shock hit Kosovo tomorrow, could the social protection system respond fast enough to help families in need?

The assessment drew expertise from municipalities, Centers for Social Work, and partners from across the humanitarian and development spectrum. The assessment analyzed how the main cash programs, such as the Social Assistance Scheme (SAS) and the Child Allowance Scheme (CAS), could be adapted in emergencies, and whether the systems behind them were ready to deliver rapid, targeted support.

The findings offered both encouragement and direction. Kosovo has many of the right ingredients: strong government ownership, universal ID coverage, digital payment channels, and an active social protection workforce at municipal level. During the COVID-19 crisis, the government demonstrated flexibility by doubling benefits and temporarily widening eligibility for social assistance, clear proof that adaptation is possible when needed.

Yet the review also exposed key challenges: gaps in coverage for near-poor households, limited coordination between disaster management and social protection institutions, and the absence of a dedicated contingency fund to finance emergency responses. These lessons would become the blueprint for action. 

Developing a Guideline: Turning Analysis into Action

Social protection reform usually focuses first on what should be done through adapting laws or policies. However, in Kosovo, practitioners decided to take a systems approach, using the recommendations from the readiness assessment to outline how to institutionalise shock-responsiveness across the social protection system. The key point was to ensure that there would be operational clarity across different components: targeting and eligibility, financing, data systems, transfer design, payment systems, coordination, and grievance redress mechanisms. 

This ensures that the process of developing by-laws and administrative instructions under the upcoming Law on Social Welfare and Social Protection Programs, will be coherent with the operational reality of how to use existing programmes and systems when emergencies occur.

The guideline provides practical instructions at all stages, suggesting information to include in the legal framework, or how to scale up, temporarily expanding coverage, adjusting eligibility criteria, or topping up benefits, without losing control or transparency. 

The guideline also introduces new tools: pre-arranged financing mechanisms, including a proposed contingency fund to make resources available within days of a crisis; clear activation triggers, defining when and how to launch emergency assistance; integrated data systems that can link social registries, civil records, and humanitarian assessments; and standard operating procedures for coordination between the Ministry, municipalities, and humanitarian actors.

“I wish we had this kind of guidance at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we were under immense pressure fearing for our lives and the safety of our families, while at the same time trying to design emergency social protection measures with no prior experience. The Guideline helps us move from reacting to crises to being ready for them. It gives us structure and clarity, so that in difficult times, our response can be fast, fair, and built on the systems people already trust”. Selvete Sadiku – Chief of Social Assistance Division, MFLT

The rationale for investing in shock-responsive social protection in Kosovo

In a changing climate and uncertain global economy, shocks are no longer rare events. For households already balancing on the edge, a flood, job loss, or price spike can quickly push them below the poverty line. In Kosovo, approximately 15,000 people are affected by disasters each year, with 8.5 million EUR in economic damages; there will be an increase in the intensity and frequency of rainfall and droughts: flash floods are becoming increasingly common in mountainous areas, while river flooding occurs more frequently in plains and low-lying regions, and earthquakes could bring a loss in 2050 GDP of 2 percent. 

Making social protection shock-responsive is therefore not an optional innovation, it is an essential safeguard for human development.

The benefits go beyond emergencies. By planning financing mechanisms, strengthening data systems, and training front-line staff, Kosovo is also improving the everyday performance of its social protection programs. When the system is built to handle crises, it becomes stronger, fairer, and more efficient in normal times too.

Partnering for Progress

UNICEF Kosovo has supported the MFLT at every step of this journey, from facilitating consultations and field missions, to providing global expertise and technical drafting support. The organization also brought in lessons from neighboring countries that have successfully operationalized shock-responsive systems, helping Kosovo adapt global knowledge to its own institutional reality. These initiatives are directly contributing to the social assistance reform project led by the MFLT, financed by the World Bank. UNICEF will continue working with the Ministry and the World Bank to pilot key elements of the Guideline, develop training materials, and ensure that readiness planning becomes part of everyday practice.

The Road Ahead

The readiness assessment and the SRSP Guideline are not endpoints, they are stepping stones toward a more resilient social protection system for Kosovo. The next phase will focus on testing the approach, refining standard procedures, and integrating SRSP principles into national legislation.

When the next crisis comes, the question will no longer be whether the system can act, but how quickly and effectively it can reach families and their children with the necessary support.